THE CONIFEEOUS FOEESTS 



these forests noble and stately. A 

 nobleness lies m the nature of the 

 living trees themselves; for, though 

 we may call them unconscious, it is 

 life still, and they are expressive with 

 meaning. Far simpler in their habits 

 and requirements than the broadleaf 

 trees, they are, nevertheless, more gen- 

 erous to man. Endurance and hard- 

 ship is their lot, but noble form of 

 trunk and crown and useful soft wood 

 are the products of their life. There is 

 no forest mantle like theirs to shield 

 from the blast, especially when it is 

 formed of young thickets of the sim- 

 ple but refined spruces and firs. 

 When, at the last, they yield their life 

 to man, it seems to me there is some- 

 thing exalted even in the manner of 

 their fall. The tree hardly quivers 

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